LT203-5-SP-CO:
"I, too, sing America": Identity, Diversity, and Voice in United States Literature
2025/26
Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Monday 12 January 2026
Friday 20 March 2026
15
02 June 2025
Requisites for this module
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This module will look at a mixture of canonical and less well-known US writers from c.1850 to the present. Students will study a varied set of US fiction and poetry, looking at issues such as the relationship between American writing and history, American "difference" and differences within American society, nationalism and regionalism, and intersecting aspects of identity. While not a ‘survey course’ as such, the range of texts will enable us to consider a number of ways in which issues of identity have been key to both the United States’ formation and projection of itself, and of its writers’ interrogation of these matters, from the period leading to the Civil War that first threatened and then confirmed the United States as a nation state, to the civil conflicts that developed over the continuing denial of civil rights to the descendants of the slaves, the original inhabitants of North America, and others. Among other topics, we will discuss: literary regionalism and literary nationalism; the complex, shifting relationship between literary forms and content; the emergence of more politically motivated, socially concerned forms of writing; the impact of concerns with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability, and mental health on American writing; the varying status of the United States in both internal and transnational terms; all as reflected and contributed to by its literature.
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with an overview and knowledge of some key themes and concepts in United States literature, particularly in relation from the mid-19th century to the present.
- To provide students with a critical understanding of the legacies of slavery, colonialism, freedom, independence, class, gender, and social mobility in United States literature, with particular reference to issues of individual and communal identity.
- To enable students to develop the critical tools to evaluate how United States authors attempted to write about their nation and collectively have produced national and regional literatures.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of key themes and concepts in United States literature, particularly in the period from the mid-19th century to the present.
- Critically evaluate and situate the legacies of slavery, colonialism, freedom, independence, class, gender, and social mobility in United States literature, and their ongoing relevance in American culture and society.
- Apply a critical insight into how United States authors attempted to write about their nation to their own literary analysis of a selection of United States literature.
No additional information available.
This module will be delivered via:
- Weekly 1-hour lecture and 1-hour seminar
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Close reading assignment: 1,000 words |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Comparative Essay: 3,000 words |
|
65% |
| Practical |
Participation |
|
5% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Owen Robinson, email: orobin@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Owen Robinson
LiFTS General Office - email liftstt@essex.ac.uk.
Telephone 01206 872626
Yes
No
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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